Briscoe pipped to Indy pole by team-mate

Australia's Ryan Briscoe missed out on pole position for this month's Indy 500, beaten by his Brazilian team-mate Helio Castroneves.

Briscoe clocked a four-lap qualifying average speed of 360.703km/h to finish just behind Castoneves, the two-time Indy 500 champion, who averaged 361.883km/h around the historic 4km speedway.

Briscoe had set the early pace before falling behind Castroneves, who secured a record 15th Indy pole for the Penske Racing team.

Briscoe took a gamble by trying to improve on his second place in the final minutes of qualifying.

Under Indy Racing's unique qualifying system every car is given three attempts to qualify, with only the last attempt counting.

A poor first lap doomed Briscoe's late bid but he recovered to hold on to his spot in the middle of row one, although with a slower speed average than his earlier run.

"You can't say we didn't try," Briscoe said.

"Great drive by Helio. I came into a big gust of wind at the start on the backstretch and that killed all four laps. But it's great for Team Penske, one-two on the front row."

Only the top 11 spots in the 33-car field for the May 24 race were at stake on Saturday with time trials on Sunday for the next 11 spots, next Saturday for the last 11 places and May 17 for slower cars to bump their way onto the grid.

Castroneves, who was only last month found not guilty on US Federal tax-evasion charges, was thrilled by his pole victory.

"What a great day. After all that has been happening in my life, to be on pole position here, it's incredible," an emotional Castroneves said.

"This is what I know. This is my life. This is racing. And I have to thank the fans for their support. Without them I don't have the strength to do this.

"You don't want to bump your team-mate off, but it's the Indianapolis 500. We do everything we can."

Scotsman Dario Franchitti, the 2007 Indy winner who missed last year in a failed stock car bid, was on the outside of row one.

Defending race and Indy-car champion Scott Dixon of New Zealand was fifth and will start in the middle of row two, flanked inside by American Graham Rahal and on the outside by Brazilian veteran Tony Kanaan.

Briscoe's other team-mate, compatriot Will Power, will line up alongside Brazil's Mario Moraes and American Marco Andretti on the third row.

Glamorous female driver Danica Patrick qualified 10th.

Dutchman Robert Dornbos crashed in a morning practice session while separate incidents in the afternoon claimed England's Dan Wheldon and Frenchman Nelson Phillippe. All three escaped unharmed and planned to try to qualify later.